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Since Apple came out with the iPad, the tablet market has grown exponentially, and based on recent studies, it may well become just as important as the desktop and smartphone markets. No matter what, the growth of the tablet market, even with new competitors such as ultraslim convertible laptops, will rival traditional computing methods.

Industry research firm Gartner has come out with an updated forecast predicting that the tablet market will grow by 53.4 percent this year, contrasted by an 8.4 percent decline in PC shipments for 2013. If this tells us anything, it is that traditional computers are going to have a hard time when it comes to competing against tablet computers.

Tablets Up While PCs Are Down

"While consumers will be bombarded with ads for the new ultramobile devices, we expect their attention to be grabbed but not necessarily their money," said Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner. "Continuing on the trend we saw last year, we expect this holiday season to be all about smaller tablets as even the long-term holiday favorite -- the smartphone -- loses its appeal."

Gartner is not the only research firm to suggest that tablets will be among the most popular types of devices sold during this holiday season. With so many manufacturers coming out with tablets, it makes sense that the market is receiving more attention (and sales) than the desktop or smartphone markets.

Innovations in the PC industry will allow it to put up a fight against tablets but convertible and ultraslim computers have failed to take off, especially in the United States.

Even with PC sales declining at a significant rate, tablets have become so popular that the smartphone, tablet, and PC market will attain $2.32 billion in 2013, a 4.5 percent increase over last year.

Perhaps the most notable statistic is how quickly the tablet market has grown. The market is projected to become more than twice as large as it was in 2012 by the time 2014 comes around. That sort of growth exceeds what may simply be called a "trend" and instead, shows that the consumer electronic marketplace may soon be dominated by portable devices.

New Leaders

Although Microsoft and Intel (who used to dominate the consumer electronics industry) are still up and running, emerging markets are being taken over by new leaders. Among these leaders are Apple, Google, and ARM, all of which have focused heavily on the tablet market, and that focus seems to be paying off.

By choosing to not adjust itself to the changes in the market, Microsoft has experienced numerous financial issues. Without a doubt, its overall failure with the Surface tablets is the most upfront example of Microsoft's inability to maintain its place as a market leader, especially when it comes to tablets.

With the old powerhouses losing their control, Apple, Google, and ARM have taken over in a fierce battle to control the tablet market.

Apple, Nokia, and Microsoft will all be revealing their new tablets tomorrow but the public seems to only care about Apple's. First of all, this is partly due to the fact that Nokia and Microsoft are practically the same company, but more important, people care about iPads and Android tablets, not the sub-par alternatives offered up by Microsoft.